There's a common criticism of games as a medium that even their best narratives lack something in comparison to those of books, movies, etc. And while games are what I love, from a narrative perspective I have found that framing hard to disagree with. There are several games that have changed my life, but they are so often unsophisticated in their meaning-making. They are frequently blunt in their delivery and single-purposed, perhaps because it is so difficult to do all of the creative mediums at once and tell a story with interactivity. I love games because of that ambition, and yet...

I think 1000xResist actually defies that notion. And I don't mean to say that as if everyone who plays this will have their life changed forever or whatever, but it IS one of the most thought-stirring games I've ever played. It is utterly overflowing in meaning. It is not impressive merely "because it is a video game," or because of clever interactions that "could only happen in a game," yet all the while it makes shrewd use of its interactivity. It's the kind of narrative where truly nothing is without purpose, and I spent its entire runtime learning how to reinterpret past scenes, adding layers to the meaning that I had already derrived.

I'm afraid all of that is going to come across like I'm just dumping hyperbole on it without getting specific. It is sort of a challenge to articulate what it speaks to, because there truly is so much: it speaks to the experience of COVID-19, of the tension between immigrant parents and their children, of fitting in, of finding one's purpose, of generational trauma, of mental health, and so much more.

"But isn't this just the way? We do not get to choose what we inherit."